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From Albert Schram on PNG’s and Fiji’s distinct COVID-19 crises
Thank you those are very valid points. Fiji is now in the top-10 in terms of COVID-19 contagion risk in the world (see: http://bit.ly/harvardtracker). The government has also introduced an open-ended emergency law, which it abuses to clamp down further on the opposition, academics and press. In PNG individual rights of all citizens, especially the poor and powerless, continue to be violated in a more haphazard manner by a venal and violent police force, with promised reforms still behind the horizon.
What makes the isolation strategy for PNG particularly harmful, is their dependence on skilled foreign labour not only for their export sectors, but also for their education and health systems.
PNG universities, for example, which had been put under government control since 2018 and saw a first wave of academics return to their own countries, now find it impossible to attract people to replace them. Since they have refused to connect to broadband internet, and improve their programs, they continue to spew out graduates without the expected competences.
Overall, therefore, universities possibly produce negative value for society and their imminent closure due to COVID-19 panic might be a good thing.
From Max quanchi on Ending Fiji’s nightmare
Excellent summary and identification of poor decision making, victims and causes of a national problem leading to sensible solutions. Hopefully this will be the spark for a new attack on the virus.
From Erin on Useful outsiders – how can external actors support authentic locally led development?
Spot on Anna!
From Vinod Reddy on Ending Fiji’s nightmare
Very well said Mr Naidu complete lockdown first for 14 days and there on is the only solution.
From Sandra Tarte on PNG’s and Fiji’s distinct COVID-19 crises
Thanks Stephen. I just want to qualify one statement in your piece:
where you say that in Fiji, the pandemic is out of control. It is out of control in the Lami-Suva-Nausori containment area, but it is still contained elsewhere around the country. So that is both good and bad news. It is good because we have a chance to get ahead of the virus before it takes hold in those areas outside Suva with vaccinations. It is bad because our rate of infection within the broader Suva population is far higher than national level statistics suggest (and that is not even taking into account the non reporting of cases. )
From Nicola Nixon on Useful outsiders – how can external actors support authentic locally led development?
Fantastic article. Thanks, Anna.
From Terence Wood on Investigating district-level measures of well-being in PNG
Hi Barry,
Thank you for an excellent comment. Tendencies such as the one you mention could be present, and could explain findings, or even the absence of findings if they run counter to the effects of other processes. This is the type of area where survey research could add a lot to the data we have. Unfortunately, such survey data haven't been gathered in PNG (or, if they have, they haven't been put into the public domain).
Empirically, in terms of our present findings, the absence of a clear negative relationship between linguistic fragmentation and school attendance cannot be re-stated as "There is a tendency for regions of greater linguistic diversity to exhibit relatively higher school attendance rates?"
The absence of a relationship in one direction is not evidence of the presence of a relationship in another direction. All it shows is that there's no relationship whatsoever or there's a relationship of an unknown sort which can't be identified owing to the limitations of the data we have.
Having said that, there is a weak positive relationship in model 2 in Table 3 in the paper, which might fit with the explanation you're offering, although the relationship only emerges in one model and is quite weak.
Nevertheless, your broader argument is interesting, and further research in the area would be useful. Thanks again for the comment.
Terence
From Barry Craig on Investigating district-level measures of well-being in PNG
Could the finding that linguistic diversity is not strongly associated with a lower school attendance rate be restated as 'There is a tendency for regions of greater linguistic diversity to exhibit relatively higher school attendance rates'? I note that most of the regions with high linguistic diversity on your map are for the most part locations of limited 'development' opportunities. Could this have generated a determination for parents to insist their children get an education to fit them for jobs elsewhere?
From Ko Ko Soe on Why does state fragility matter, and what can we do about it?
Dear Sir,
I would like to clear understand on the differences and it's smptoms between failed State and fragile state. I am staying in Myanmar.
Thank you in advance.
Yours Truly,
Ko Ko Soe
From Juliet Hunt on Useful outsiders – how can external actors support authentic locally led development?
Great article.
From Geoff Robinson on Useful outsiders – how can external actors support authentic locally led development?
Thank you Anna, a refreshingly well articulated perspective that reflects experience and solid understanding of context with a system solutions thinking
From Dais. on Settling as an expat in Port Moresby – a personal account